1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to a decorative plastic floor tile and its method of manufacture.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the prior art to provide, where desirable, wear resistant layers. Commercial tile has been made with a non-skid surface made by heating individual pieces of ordinary vinyl tile and spraying the surfaces with carborundum grit. One then embeds the grit into the surface of the tile, the grit particles imparting the non-skid characteristic to the tile. It is also known from the prior art to provide a slip resistant surface by providing the plastic flooring product with a nubbly texture by incorporating particulate plastic material dispersed in the wear layer which is cured to form a textured wear layer. This latter feature is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,243.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,267,187 discloses a textured floor covering comprising a base layer, a plastic layer, and an overlying matrix containing particulate material embedded therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,243 teaches that it is old in the art to apply wear layers onto floor coverings, and particularly a non-skid photopolymerizable urethane layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,928,706 discloses the use of hard quartz particles.
Application Ser. No. 237,666, entitled "Non-Skid Plastic Flooring Product and Method of Manufacture," filed Feb. 24, 1981, in the name of Jesse D. Miller, Jr., et al., commonly assigned with this application, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,447 discloses a non-skid decorative plastic floor covering composed of a decorative plastic base having a plurality of slip-resistant elements positioned on the base with a clear or translucent wear layer overlying the slip-resistant elements and the exposed intervening base.
There has also been made a decorative plastic floor covering with a decorative plastic base having raised and depressed areas. A plurality of elements are positioned on the raised areas only and then thereover a cured clear or translucent wear layer overlies both the elements and the plastic base. The elements comprise particles embedded in a cured plastic matrix which is positioned only on the raised areas of the base. The particles are distributed on the plastic matrix in a substantially abutting relationship with a single layer of particles. The particles protrude above the matrix, but are below the uppermost level of the wear layer. The particles are rounded inorganic particles of quartz and have a Moh hardness greater than 4. The particles are distributed on the raised area of the base, such that none of the particles are greater than about 595 microns, with about 55% of the particles being about 149 to 296 microns in size. The wear layer is a cured urethane composition.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,343,975 discloses the application of granules to a printed vinyl type substrate, but in all cases, the granules are not of an aggregate composition but were instead of resinous composition.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,126,727 discloses the concept of providing a resinous, polymer material with a pattern printed thereon. A wear layer is then bonded to the patterned sheet, and the wear layer contains mica chips or chips of similar material. The chips are embedded in a separate preformed sheet which is then laminated to the pattern layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,328,231 discloses the formation of a surface from a hardened cured composition of a polyester, or similar polymerizable resin, and sand.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,255,480 and 4,263,081 disclose an abrasive resistant laminate formed by coating a printed paper base with minerial particles and then impregnating the paper with a laminating resin.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,121,642; 3,135,643; 3,343,975; 3,523,849; 3,562,051; 3,607,539; 3,660,187; 3,661,673; 3,798,111; 4,212,691 and 4,278,483 are other patents which disclose other methods for forming wear or abrasive resistant surfaces and are indicative of the art.